


Cough Syrup

by Maifire



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, F/M, Keith angst, Keith opens up, Krolia cries, Oneshot, Orphan Keith, Shiro is basically Keith’s dad, Shiro is the best brother ever, broganes, keith cries, sad keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-18
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-24 20:16:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14961464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Maifire/pseuds/Maifire
Summary: A look of horror passed over Krolia as the vision ended, but she quickly relaxed. Now that Keith knew she was alive and how much she loved him, maybe he would forgive her. Maybe they could go back to earth where his father, the love of her life, was waiting for them.—What happened on the space whale after Krolia saw the vision of Keith at the graveyard.





	Cough Syrup

Keith had been asleep when it happened. He was laying atop the cosmic wolf, and Krolia had been on lookout, making sure nothing harmful came their way. It wasn’t necessary, but her time with The Blade had left her paranoid. She closed her eyes for a minute, deep in thought, when it had hit.

A blinding light clouded her vision, until it dispersed to show a graveyard. Keith was there, and he couldn’t have been more than seven. He was standing over a grave, hands closed into fists and tears making their way down his tiny face. 

Krolia felt the sadness wash over her in waves. 

She knew whose grave it was of course. Keith’s dad was a great man, and when she had to leave it crushed him. He wouldn’t want their child to have felt abandoned at such a young age, as if his mother didn’t even stick around long enough to know who he was. 

So he had told Keith that she had died. It was the only logical solution really. At first, Keith didn’t even believe that she was his mother. He had thought she was dead. 

A look of horror passed over Krolia as the vision ended, but she quickly relaxed. Now that Keith knew she was alive and how much she loved him, maybe he would forgive her. Maybe they could go back to earth where his father, the love of her life, was waiting for them. 

Maybe now they could be a family.

—

Keith awoke with a start. Nighttime had passed, and it was already well into the afternoon the next day, but Krolia didn’t mind. She saw the dark circles under the boy’s eyes, and had realized that he never slept much more than an hour at a time. 

She was glad that he had gotten some much needed rest, and that he had trusted her enough to let his guard down. 

Krolia was over at Keith’s side immediately, and within the span of seconds, several things happened. Keith had looked around the cave, disoriented and frantic, Krolia then reaching out a hand and placed it gently on his shoulder in a vain attempt of comfort. He immediately jolted back, sucking in a breathe and raising his arms in what looked like self defense. 

Krolia cocked her head, “Keith, is everything all right?”

With those words, it was as though what ever trance he was under was lifted. Keith relaxed, leaning against the still sleeping wolf one more. 

“Yeah, just a bad dream.” He threw his arm over his face and left it at that. 

Krolia didn’t pry. 

—

It was dinner the next time they talked. Krolia had slept most of the day, while Keith had cooked leftover meat from their last kill. She felt bad. She didn’t know much about earth culture, but she did know that it was her job as his mother to care and provide for him, not the other way around. It shouldn’t have been the other way around. 

She took a small bite and glanced over to where Keith was sitting, “So where did you learn how to cook?”

Keith shrugged and hunched over more, “I guess when you grow up like I do you learn a lot of stuff.”

Krolia didn’t know what he meant, so she made a soft humming noise and left it at that. Maybe cooking was a common earth hobby. 

They ate in silence after that. 

When it was time to clean up, really just throwing out the bare carcass as not to attract more unwanted attention, Keith turned to his mother quickly, and unexpectedly. He sucked in a breathe, and a determined look donned his face, “Krolia...what was dad like?”

She froze at this, not quite sure how to answer, blinking as she stopped and thought.

“Well, when I met him he was strong, and passionate, and kind. He helped me when I was on the brink of death, and together we formed a family. I think about him everyday. And you.” She smiled softly, “What about you? What was he like as you grew up?”

Keith closed his eyes and sighed, “I don’t remember I...I was too young when he died I never really-“

He cut himself off with a dry laugh, “Sorry, I don’t even know why I brought him up. Just forget about it.”

Krolia stared at Keith until what he said finally registered. She stared at him until he left the cave with the bones, not once looking up at her direction, and she continued to stare at the empty place he had left until he came back. 

She hadn’t even realized that she was crying until he walked up to her and asked if she was okay. 

Krolia looked up in shock as her eyes met Keith’s, “Yes, I’m- how did he-“

Keith looked at the ground, “I’m sorry I didn’t... I thought you knew. He, um, there was an accident, a fire, and he didn’t make it.”

“I think I need to sit down,” Krolia fell down, quickly composing herself into a sitting position as she wiped at her eyes. 

What had this meant for Keith? He couldn’t have raised himself, he was far too young to have survived all alone. 

She watched as he sat down across from her, a blank look on his face. He had put his walls back up.

Keith ran a hand through his hair, “Are you okay? I’m really sorry, I should have known that you wouldn’t have-“

“Who raised you?” Krolia finally made eye contact with the boy as his eyes widened, “You were so young when he- you couldn’t have raised yourself.”

Keith shrugged and looked at his hands, “On earth when you don’t have any parents and no family members to take you, you in you go to a place with other kids like you.”

She nodded, taking in a deep breathe, “So you weren’t alone.”

The boy across from her hummed and shook his head, “No...when you’re in a place like that it’s so overcrowded you get thrown with a so many others, but you never truly have anyone. No one really cares about you.”

He scratched his forehead, “I ended up getting swept up in the system. I got placed in a temporary for a couple of months, and then others after that. I never actually had a home, until Shiro took me in and-”

Keith sighed and shook his head again, still not looking up at Krolia.

She started breathing heavily as she wrapped her head around what Keith had told her, “What... what kind of barbaric system is this? Keith I- if I knew I never would have left.”

Keith stood abruptly, quickly rubbing at his eyes and turning around, “No. No, I’m sorry, it’s not your fault, I never should have brought it up. It’s not your fault.”

Krolia got up and reached out a hand for her son, but it was already too late. He was already gone. 

—

That night Krolia couldn’t sleep. Keith had come back in the middle of the night, but he stayed close to the opening of the cave, sitting on a rock and staring into the dark. 

Finally, after staring at the flames for far longer than she should have, Krolia entered a restless slumber. 

She dreamt of Keith as a child, not having anyone to hold him, or to kiss his boo-boos okay. No one to love him. Somewhere her dream turned into a nightmare. Her son being shipped off to family after family. Never fitting in, always getting in fights. She saw him get beaten by those that were supposed to be taken care of him. 

There was a flash of light, and Krolia woke up. She looked over at where Keith had been, only to an empty cave and a dying fire. 

They hadn’t been dreams.

—

After that, the visions weren’t as bad. There were still days where Krolia would be horrified at what her son had been through and Keith would have to go on long walks to clear his head, but they were dispersed with scenes from her own time at The Blade. 

They fell into an easy routine, and Keith slowly let his walls down. 

The first time Krolia saw Shiro she gasped at the resemblance to Keith’s father. She had asked Keith who he was, and smiled fondly when the boy told her how they had met. He talked on and on about the man, and about how he had taken him under his wing. When he thought there was nothing left worth fighting for, Shiro has come and taught him there was. 

He was Keith’s family. Even more so than she was, because he was always there for him. She laughed as Keith told her about the man who he now sees as a brother, and she couldn’t have been happier. 

There were visions of his time as a paladin, and Keith told her stories of them as well, a soft and far away look in his eyes as he did so. 

Krolia couldn’t help but realize that even if he hadn’t always had someone there for him, Keith had a family. 

And she would do everything in her power to make sure he got back to his family safely.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if my writing is awful, it’s 12:05am and I typed this up in a frantic attempt of getting rid of some of my post season six feelings. Can you tell it didn’t work? Honestly though, I have no regrets. I love Keith and I love writing and reading and learning more about his backstory.


End file.
